Press Releases

14 Feb 2019 The number of patient admissions to an NHS hospital for consultant-led treatment, including planned surgery, reduced again last year despite an increase in the overall number of patients on the waiting list.

11 Feb 2019 The Topol Review, led by cardiologist, geneticist, and digital medicine researcher Dr Eric Topol and produced by Health Education England has been published today. The report explores how to prepare the healthcare workforce, through education and training, to deliver the digital future.

04 Feb 2019 NHS Improvement have found up to an extra 300,000 operations could be carried out each year through the improved scheduling of operating lists. The RCS had early sight of NHS Improvement’s findings and is supportive, but there are wider challenges facing surgeons which prohibit an increase in the number of operations able to be performed.

10 Jan 2019 The President of the Royal College of Surgeons has called on the Government to renew its efforts to reduce waiting times, as latest figures suggest the NHS is will likely fail to meet a key goal set out in NHS England’s annual planning guidance. This stipulated that NHS commissioners and providers should aim for their Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting list to be no higher in March 2019 than in March 2018 and, where possible, it should be reduced.

07 Jan 2019 Professor Derek Alderson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, has welcomed the NHS Long Term Plan, saying that it is right that the Government and NHS England continue to project an ambitious vision of healthcare. However, he has raised concerns that there is no clear timeline for meeting the 18-week target for operations and planned treatment.

04 Jan 2019 As people across the UK pledge to do “Dry January” following alcohol-fuelled Christmas and New Year celebrations, a leading dental surgeon is urging individuals to limit their alcohol consumption for another important reason – their oral health.

02 Jan 2019 Professor Michael Escudier, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, supports a Change4Life campaign which is asking parents to “Make a swap when you next shop” to halve their children’s sugar intake from some everyday food and drinks.

21 Dec 2018 Patients who need to undergo high-risk emergency abdominal surgery are being discriminated against, as finite NHS resources, such as consultant staff, operating theatres and critical care beds, are still systematically targeted at lower-risk patients having planned procedures, a report from the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has warned.

07 Dec 2018 The Commission on the Future of Surgery has predicted that surgery is about to be transformed for millions of patients by a new wave of technologies – driven by changes in digital technology and our understanding of human biology – which in some cases are only months away. Unlike many previous innovations, the forthcoming technologies are expected to affect every type of surgery, including the way it is provided and the way we train surgeons.

29 Nov 2018 Northern Ireland Department of Health waiting time statistics published today (Thursday 29 November 2018) show there are now 19,715 patients waiting more than a year for inpatient treatment – a rise of almost 50% compared to September 2017. By contrast, in England 3,156 patients were waiting more than a year. A further 94,222 are now waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment in Northern Ireland.